He touched the back of his hand to the tip, and it glowed orange. Their small tent of fiery protection shuddered with an explosion. She looked up while the Devil just kept looking at her, his hands stuffed into his waistband. The angels were flying now. Their whirling gusts of glitter and magic were beautiful and furious. They were tossing bombs of light.
Emma desperately wanted the angels to stop getting it wrong — getting everything wrong.
The Devil looked from her to his mouth and back again, refusing — or maybe lacking the power — to use his own hands. She understood what he wanted and pulled out the cigarette. He blew smoke at her, and it turned into a hand that cradled her face.
“Toss that butt into the wall of flames.” Jack smiled, his white teeth reflecting the warm glow of the fire.
When she did as he requested, the cigarette caused a tiny explosion and revived the fire around them.
“Pretty child, my Hell will be the same as always. I’ll be in that smoky room, and in between the tortures I dole out, I’ll have just enough time to greet all my female guests.” The pulsating fire steadied his hands briefly, just long enough for him to replace the ghostly smoke with his real hand. “And those women? They’ll always look like, but not quite be…you.”
Emma felt her eyes well up, and she covered his hand with hers. “I can make them stop. Let me go out there and make a case for you.”
“They’ll never forgive me for what I do next. I hope you will, someday. Maybe you’ll get it.” He stood and held out his hand.
She got to her feet on her own and hugged him.
“But if not Hell, then where?” Emma put her head under his chin. He smelled so delicious.
He petted her hair softly. “You know the answer to that one as well. Are you stalling?”
“But to just end? To stop existing altogether? It’s so final.” Emma looked at his face again.
He looked exhausted and drained and…done.
“There are worse things. To want is worse. To want you? Impossible.” Jack looked around at his withering protection. Emma began patting a gentle rhythm on his chest. The rhythm he would have in his heart no longer. He tilted her face to his, lifting her chin and running his thumb along her jaw. “I knew hope. Before I was gone I knew hope because I knew you.”
Emma shook her head, trying to tell him how unacceptable this outcome was.
Satan lifted both his hands and outlined her face. He stilled her movement. “I consider this a gift. From me to you, Emma. Make your forever as happy as you dare.”
She closed her eyes, expecting his soft kiss. It was just his style. But when she felt nothing, her mind began to race. Maybe he was just getting a rise out of me before he went back to Hell. Maybe it was all a joke and he plans to take us both to eternal damnation with his next breath.
Emma opened her eyes to find Satan still standing there, but she could feel the fractures in his armor above them. The loud pops and bangs increased, and she shut her eyes tightly again. Maybe the angels had reinforcements. Then suddenly her entire being was consumed by his lips, his kiss.
She gasped as the feeling rolled through her. Her knees went weak as she orgasmed. He grabbed her harder and deepened the kiss, his tongue tasting hers. Every part of her body tingled, exploded.
She moaned and tried to get closer to him, though their chests were already touching. He placed one foot on either side of her body, and before she knew it she was on the ground. He lay on top off her with his delightful weight pressing her, holding her down. She’d never felt anything like the sensations that coursed through her now. She panted as he stopped the kiss.
Her eyes snapped open as the flames shattered around them. He covered her head with his arms and didn’t react when the flames landed like molten glass on top of him. He was already in tremendous pain.
Emma’s body went numb. He’d taken something from her and poured in something else during their kiss.
He smiled through his agony as the angels fluttered above him. White and perfect, they bonded together and their combined power hit Jack squarely in the back.
Emma wanted to wave them away, she wanted to talk, but there was only numbness.
Jack grew brighter and brighter, glowing as if from within. She kept her eyes on his. He never flinched, just tried to sustain his smile and keep his gaze on her throughout the chaos around them.
Jason pulled her out from under Jack, just as Jack became as white as the face of the sun. Jason cradled her carefully in his arms, but she still couldn’t move. He was speaking to someone else, trying to keep his voice calm.
“She’s dying. Dean, he tried to kill her. Her heart’s slowing.”
Emma noticed, belatedly, that the numbness was affecting her organs as well. She could hardly take a breath. She wanted to look back at Jack, but she couldn’t move her head. Then the blackness claimed her. She never saw the epic ring of warping power that ended the standoff.
Maybe the noise would have killed her anyway. Surely her human skin would have crumbled off at the tiny, abrasive blasts of ice that detonated as Jack parted with his existence. His soul was long extinguished when Jason laid her carefully in the snow.
Jason pictured the first time he’d found her, fresh from her fall from Heaven. He wondered if he’d always been destined to hold a dying Emma.
Dean’s face was completely bewildered as he knelt next to Jason. Something about Emma seemed oddly familiar. Seriana was the first to sense the change. She touched Emma’s chest and felt a slow, off-kilter beating, much like the one within her own.
“Jason, she’s changing. The process has started. I think Emma’s becoming some sort of vampire!”
Chapter 14
When Emma gasped and opened her eyes, everything around her was crisp and clear. She felt…good. She looked around at the room: clean, neat, and mostly empty except for a bookshelf laden with volumes of all colors and sizes. Jason smiled as her gaze landed on his beautiful face.
He reached out and touched her, insisting, “You’re the beautiful one.”
“Oh yeah — you can hear my thoughts. That’s going to get awkward.” She smiled back at him. “Where am I?”
“At the back of our house,” he said. “That’s Dean’s ridiculous library. You know — he’s obsessed with understanding the human body, and his un-human body.”
Jason seemed unflappable as Emma ran through the last bits of her memory.
“Shall I fill in the gaps?” he asked, recognizing her struggle. “Will that give you peace or pain, Emma?” He extended his hand, and Emma took it, pulling herself to sitting.
Sunlight poured through the window, and she knew she was altered. She was still in the clothes Jack had created for her, but Emma knew she was no longer human. She wanted to hear him say it.
“I believe you’re some kind of vampire now. Or like a vampire… I’m not sure. How do you feel?” Jason looked worried as he waited for her response.
She looked puzzled. “Great.”
Jason laughed, and Emma wanted more of his joy immediately. She answered him honestly in her head.
I feel wonderful. Thirsty, but this is exquisite.
She flexed her newly strong arms. Jason stood and quickly walked with her through the house and out the door. Evidently being a vampire was much like being an angel. She flapped her wings out of habit, and then hung her head at their loss. She had only a phantom sense of mass where they used to be.
Jason pulled her into a gentle hug. “I’m so sorry, Emma. If I’d just been able to get to you sooner…”
Her thirst was overwhelming her coherent thoughts, but she needed to explain. I think this change is a gift.
Jason looked sadly into her eyes. “I hope the adjustment won’t be too horrible.”
Jason’s care and concern, despite his lack of humanity, amazed Emma once again. She knew being here with him was right.
God loves you. You’re better than wings.
He kissed her forehead.
“Let’s get you fed before we ask you to make moral judgments about vampires — half-breed or otherwise.” Jason took her hand and led her to the woods.
Emma tried to listen to Jason’s handy, helpful hints on feeding, but she kept tripping over the thought of Jack burning white in the glow of the angels’ wrath. Jason soon quieted. It gave her peace that she wasn’t alone with her thoughts. Her gaze lingered on the trees as they walked briskly through the woods that surrounded the Parishes’ home.
“Blood is a refined taste,” Jason explained when she tuned back in. “We may have to catch a human and open him up before you have any interest. Though honestly, I expected your instincts to take over your mind.”
Stepping in front of her, he grasped her shoulders and looked deeply in her eyes. “Food.”
Emma pictured a fluffy green tree.
“It should be blood. When I say ‘food,’ your primal response should be red. It should color all your thoughts right now.” He stepped back.
Am I broken?
“No, it’s just that you were changed by…him. And as far as I could tell, he wasn’t a vampire.” Jason put a thoughtful finger to his lips.
He nodded at her flood of thoughts. They were coming toward the same conclusions.
The Devil tricked me? Maybe I don’t have a food source? Will this be my Hell? Endless thirst?
“I heard his thoughts before he was gone. He didn’t wish you any ill. Maybe try closing your eyes — let’s see where your tastes lie.”
She did as he suggested. Emma tried to empty her mind and let her primal needs take over, but she was worried. As an angel, she’d been used to protecting humans. Now what would she be?
Jason stood behind her and murmured softly in her ear. “I won’t let you kill anyone. You’re safe with me. I promise.”
Trust him.
She opened her eyes and the bark of the tree in front of her was so appealing. She could feel the hunger pooled on her tongue. Soon she could take her thirst no longer and jumped on the moss-covered trunk. Her teeth sharpened as soon as her lips touched the bark, and she sank them into the tree, filling her mouth with its sweet sap. She closed her eyes with relief. When she finally opened them, the tree that had been so magnificent was crumpled into a pile of black ash. And her thirst was satiated.
Jason looked pleased and surprised.
I feed from trees?
“Apparently. Now that is a true gift.” Jason held open his arms and Emma walked into them, curling her hands in his shirt.
She felt him chuckle in her hair. “Don’t worry, angel, I’ll see to it that ten trees are planted for every one you drain.”
She smiled into his chest. Thank you.
Jason led her to a gentle stream and sat next to her on a boulder. For further proof, they watched a family of deer lapping nervously at the water. Emma felt no impulse to attack them. Instead she reveled in her heightened senses. The fawn’s white spots were so clearly defined.
“Where’s your family? Is everyone okay?” Emma hated that she’d forgotten to ask until now.
“It’s fine, Emma. Adjusting to new a lifestyle takes a while. They’re back at the house. They wanted to give us some privacy.” Jason put his hand on top of hers.
Emma looked up at the morning sky. It seemed like a normal day. It was as if the world hadn’t been on the brink of destruction.
How long ago?
“Two weeks. You saved the world two weeks ago.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
Emma nodded at the rightness of the white snow and the harmless, puffy clouds.
“We saved the world together. I would’ve never been able to do it without you.” She pulled his hand to her lips and kissed it in return. Jason, can you tell me what happened?
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “When the Devil dragged you behind the flames, I tried to get you, of course, but the barrier was impenetrable. So I turned my efforts to the angels and tried to describe to them what I believed was going on.”
Jason indulged in the sight of her calm face. She looked into his green eyes and felt such peace in his gaze.
“The angels have a few prejudices. Half-breeds trying to do the right thing seems like a foreign concept.” Jason sighed as Emma remembered their first meeting and the insults she’d thrown at him. “That worked out eventually, so it’s fine. Anyway, they took to the skies and began pelting your shelter with weapons. I could hear your mind, so I knew you were safe.”
He looked away from her face to the stream. The deer family had bounded off, leaving only hoof prints as their memory. Emma knew she was blushing.
He clarified. “The Devil, Jack, had only beautiful thoughts before he was eliminated. He was a changed being.”
She pictured the smile Jack had worked to keep in place for her though his agony. There was a quick, sharp pain as she felt the loss of him. His gift to her had the very makings of a blessing.
“I think it is a blessing,” Jason said. “He gave you the only way you could ever deal with being a vampire. I would thank him if I had a chance.” Jason hopped down from the boulder and waited as she did the same.
He grasped her waist in case she needed steadying, but she was sure-footed. “So being a tree eater is going to be wild,” he said. “I guess it’s just like eating huge broccoli?”
Jason was lightening the mood as best he could. She turned slowly and glanced up at his magnificent lips.
Kiss me, Jason. I need to feel alive.
His eyes changed to a deeper green as he moved her hair away from her face. “I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for going to Hell and back.”
He leaned slowly until their lips almost touched. She took a deep breath to inhale the moment, the perfection of his intentions. His lips tasted of her own desire, her own forever. He comforted her with his strong embrace. When he ended the passion, he hugged her softly to his chest, cradling her head and smoothing her hair.
She had only contentment in the center of his world. Thank you for making Heaven so unappealing.
They hugged for a long time, just enjoying the lack of urgency, the sound of the winter birds making up for their dull color with vibrant songs.
“I could stand like this — just like this — forever,” he said. “With you in my arms I may never need another thing.”
Emma hugged him hard around the middle. She pictured the moments they’d had during her angel’s pause and leaned back to see his face.
“Yeah, I’m going to need that for sure,” Jason said.
Emma laughed, loving that she influenced him with her less-than-celestial impulses. Shouldn’t we tell your family we’re fine?
Jason was busy changing her mind while his eyes smoldered. She felt a chill of anticipation race up her spine.
“You’ll like it very much. I promise.” He trailed his hand up her back in an exact replica of her chill.
As a lover he’d be absolutely in tune to her slightest whim, and the thought made her gasp. She had flashes of him plugged into her fantasies and was rewarded with his sigh in response to her thoughts.
“Oh.” Emma had nothing better to say to his overwhelming sexiness.
Emma heard the crunch of snow behind her and whirled around. Jason placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “It’s just Dean. I’m sure Seriana was worried and wanted an update.”
Emma felt a little embarrassed about her quick reaction.
Jason placed his hand on her hip and spoke softly. “We all have to adjust to the fast reflexes — except for Dean here. His were slow from the start.”
Jason ducked as a snowball from Dean missed its mark. “I heard that! Get your butts back to the house so Seriana will leave me alone.”
Jason nodded, and his brother jogged off with a wave to Emma. “I guess we’d better head back. Dean will be fascinated by this turn of events. He loves anomalies, and a vampire-angel feasting on trees definitely qualifies.”
He offered Emma his elbow so he could e
scort her through the woods. She smiled and took his arm.
If Jack isn’t the Devil anymore, then who is?
“I heard the angels talking during the battle,” Jason said. “They seemed to think there’d be an epic battle in Hell. The strongest, meanest creature would win the job.”
They reached the break in the woods and could see his house.
Emma remembered her time in Hell — the smoke, the monster she’d seen behind the first door in Hell’s Hallway.
“Everett’ll win. He wants it bad enough, I’m sure,” Emma said, rubbing her eyes with her hand. “And then he may be sorry he did.”
Jason stopped and tilted her face toward his. “Hell was awful. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there to help.”
You did help. Honestly, I needed you to believe in me or I’d still be there.
The memory of her experience in Hell overwhelmed her, and she shook her head. The trauma was so raw, so close to the surface. Jason looked troubled.
“Let’s go meet your family again,” she said. “Last time was sort of hurried.” Emma forced her mind to jump past the tortures of Hell to focus on now.
They closed the remaining distance to the house, and Jason held the door for Emma. She entered to find his family waiting for the new vampire in their clan. After the formal introductions, the ladies went into the kitchen so Seriana could grill Emma about Heaven. She was endlessly curious.
Just a short time later, all the Parishes went on alert at the same moment as the distinct sound of truck tires approached the house. A few moments later the doorbell sounded, but they all stayed frozen until the UPS man had left the package at the door and departed.
Dean opened the door to find a small package wrapped in brown paper and labeled Emma c/o Jason Parish.
Emma stepped forward before Jason could pick up the box. “Don’t. I’ll get it. It’s addressed to me.”
She had a million suspicions, but only one made sense. From deep in Hell, Everett had found her. And whatever was contained in this inconspicuous, brown wrapping couldn’t be good.